Wingman
by SilverShoes17
Summary: One day, Skittery realizes it isn't always a bad thing that Tumbler follows him around everywhere. My first story back! So cut me some slack if it isn't great. Haha.


**Drabble drabble drabble...**

**So I got this idea when I was trying to write another Skittery fic, but it turned into this. I kept thinking of how you see Skittery and Tumbler (or at****least, I think that's Tumbler...) together a lot in the movie, so I came up with this! I'm a little rusty in writing, but hopefully it's still good. It's not as much about the Skittery/OC but about the Skittery/Tumbler relationship. Hopefully it doesn't suck. lol. Enjoy and review!**

I have to say, being the brother figure stinks sometimes. I mean, I love Tumbler, but when he keeps telling me to get up the second Kloppman comes in to wake us up, or when I can't go hang out with the boys 'cause he wants me to put him to bed, he gets a little annoying. He follows me everywhere I go. I can never get any time to myself or to go out at night or during the day. The kid is driving me insane.

Today, however, I found him quite useful.

So, being partners, Tumbler and me were walking through the park after we were done selling for the morning.

"Skittery?" The boy asked, shielding his eyes as he looked up at me.

"Yeah, kid?" Would it be a game of I-Spy today? Perhaps a question with no real answer. Maybe he wants to play 20 questions.

"Are Cowboy and Sarah gonna get married?"

"Kid," I said, a slight laugh in my voice. "They only known each other a few months. And they're still kids. So no, they ain't getting married. Why would you ask?"

"I dunno," Tumbler replied. "I just see them kissin' and huggin' and holdin' hands all the time. Isn't that what married people do?"

"Yeah, kinda," I answered. "But for now, Sarah is just Jack's girl. All right?"

"Ok," he smiled and I was glad the conversation was over. "Hey Skittery?" Guess not.

"Yeah, kid?" I groaned.

"Why don't you have a girl?" Tumbler asked innocently. I stopped in my place, having no idea of how to answer his question.

"Well, um, I," was all that came out of my mouth.

Of course, Tumbler forgot all about his question when he didn't get an immediate answer and started sprinting away from me to whatever caught his eye. I hate when he does that. I ran after him as fast as I could. When I caught up to him, he was by the pond chasing a bunch of ducks.

"Kid's gonna be the death of me one day," I said to myself, bending over to catch my breath.

"That's so sweet of you," I heard a soft voice from behind me say. I wiped my forehead with my sleeve as I stood up and turned around. "He's lucky to have an older brother as nice as you."

I saw the owner of the voice. She was beautiful. Her blonde hair hung from a white ribbon in curls past her shoulders. Her blue eyes looked even bigger with the matching color of her dress. She was an angel if I ever saw one.

"Oh, you see he's n-," I began to correct her, but stopped. This girl thought Tumbler was my real brother. She was talking to me because she thought I was his _brother_. _Tumbler_ was the reason I am talking to her in the first place. I coughed to collect my thoughts. "He's just been so happy he's gotten to come work with me. Really perked up these past few days."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," the girl replied. "I'm Nicolette. Nicolette McCarthy," she introduced herself, holding out her hand. "And you are?"

"Just call me Skittery," I said, shaking her hand. I hoped and prayed she didn't find it rude I told her to call me by my newsie name. "And my brother's name is Tumbler."

"He's just adorable," she replied, turning back to look at the kid, who was chasing a squirrel now. The squirrel ran up a tree, leaving Tumbler stuck on the ground below. "I wish I had a younger brother or sister. I'm the youngest of 2 girls."

"Yeah," I mused. "He can be a real handful sometimes, but when you get down to it, I'd do anything for the little guy." She smiled. Wow, she had a real pretty smile. "You wanna go for a walk?" She nodded. "We'll have to stay close though. Gotta keep an eye on him and everything."

"Of course," Nicolette replied. We began walking down the path. I looked back to the pond every so often the check on Tumbler. "So how old is he?"

_Good question,_ I thought to myself. I had no idea. He had just started losing his baby teeth. When do kids do that? Around 6 years old, maybe. Uh, yeah, that looked about right.

"He's 6 and a half," I replied smoothly, looking over my shoulder at him to make sure I guessed his age as good as possible. I think I did.

"That must be a fun age to try to control," she joked. "I know I was a wild one when I was that young. I remember my older sister complaining to my parents every day about me."

"No, you?" I said. "You don't look like you would be the kind to act all crazy." We came to the edge of the park, and turned around.

"Well, I was," Nicolette replied. "Mama says I used to run through the streets away from her and my sister when we all went to the market." She smiled again. "And I would always run outside in the rain and come in the house all soaking wet with mud on my shoes."

"You were a wild one," I chided sarcastically. That had nothing on some of the stuff Tumbler had done. _Time to help me out again, kid_, I thought to myself. "Well, the other day, I came home after lunch to find Tumbler and a few of his friends upstairs sitting in a circle on the floor. I figured they were playing jacks or some little game so I walked right past them, I was about to just collapse on my bed to get a few hours of shut-eye in before I had to sell the evening edition when I heard a 'peep peep peep.' So I go over to Tumbler and ask him what the sound was and he said 'nothin'' as he held his hands behind his back. Then I heard it again and his friends started coughing real loud to try to muffle the noise. I was about to walk away when I heard Tumbler scream 'Ow! He bit me!' and bring his hands to the front again. He had been holding a baby bird in his hands the whole time! I dunno how he got it past grandpa." 'Grandpa' being Kloppman. "But the poor kid was pretty bummed when I told him we couldn't keep it." I couldn't help but smiled as Nicolette laughed at the story. I also told her a couple other stories about Tumbler, all of which she laughed at. Who knew a 6 year old would help me with the girls?

"That's so cute!" She exclaimed. "That's why I want a younger sibling. They give you great stories to tell."

"Yes ma'am they do, and that's not even the worst of it," I replied as we came near the pond. "Excuse me," I said before I turned in the direction where Tumbler was. "Hey, Tumbler! Time to go, kid!" I called to him, taking a quick look to Nicolette. "We gotta go get lunch!"

That got him running. He was by my side before I could blink twice. Seeing Nicolette, he clung to my leg.

"H-hi," he said shyly.

"Well hello there," she replied. "I'm Nicolette." She held out her hand for him to shake, thankfully he did. "What's your name?"

"I'm Tumbler," he said proudly and Nicolette smiled.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Tumbler," she cooed. "Skittery's told me a lot about you. All good things, don't worry."

The two just smiled at each other, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity.

"Nicolette, would you like to join us for lunch today?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure Skittery," she replied and I let out an inaudible sigh of relief. "I'd love to have lunch with the two of you."

_Maybe this kid is good for something besides helping me sell papes_, I thought to myself as I picked him up and set him on my shoulders.

It's days like these that I love having a brother, even if he's not.

**So there you go. Sorta kinda ish friendship fluff. Keep the reviews nice please!**


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